Float



(No Model.)

A. J. WRIGHT.

' FLOAT. No. 340,534. Patented Apr. 20, 1886.

IHIIHIIIIIY: 'IIIHHIIIIII [JP WITNESSES t Allen Jwn m. l/Vl/E/VTOI? 0i wt 1 Afforneys N. PETERS, Plw'mLilhogmpher. Wahi n nnnnn C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLEN J. WVRIGHT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

FLOAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,534, dated April 20, 1886.

Application filed February 4, 1886.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN J. WRIGHT, of Cleveland, in the county of Guyahogaand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Floats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in floats; and it consists in certain features of construction and in combination of parts hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Heretofore floats have usually been spun in halves, and made the one part to slip a short distance into the other part, or have been made with an interlocking joint, the one part being spun over an outwardly projecting flange of the other part. In either case the seam was soldered to make a tight joint. For ordinary floats the metal is necessarily thin, and is quickly heated through in soldering, by reason of which the air inside of the float is expanded, causing an outward pressure that is likely to make fine blow-holes in the solder. These blowholes are often so small that they are not visible, and the float when supposed to be perfect may, in fact, be quite imperfect, and if placed, for instance, in a steam-boiler to operate an automatic feed-water regulator, or if placed in an alarm-gage, such imperfect float will after a time become filled with water and cease to be a float, and serious damage may accrue therefrom. Solder for such purposes is at best unreliable, and is likely to be corroded by substances in the water, so that the float in consequence thereof eventually becomes worthless. In view of these difficulties I have devised afloat in which no solder need be used; but in place thereof the two parts of the float are pressed over an inside band, so that a tight joint is made, the inside band of course serving to hold the two parts of the float together and to strengthen the float.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a float embodying my invention, a portion of the shell thereof being broken away to show the internal construction and the manner of making the joint. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a float, showing a different form, and showing, also, an interlocking of the parts, in addition to the joint shown in Serial No. 190,870. (No model.)

Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail showing another modification of the interlocking parts.

The form of the float is not essential, the one shown in Fig. 1 being spherical, that shown in Fig. 2being cylindrical with spherical ends. These or other forms may be used at pleasure or adapted according to circumstances.

A and A represent the two parts of the shell.

B is an internal band, and may have one or more inside annular ribs or flanges, I), for stiffening the band. The shells A a nd A are forced on over the band B,and are offset, respectively, at a and a, so that the internal shoulders at these points, by engaging the edges of the band, cause the abutting edges of the shell to meet approximately at the center of the band, as shown'in Fig. 1. If the shells while expanded by heat-for instance, by dipping them in hot water-are forced over the band B, the shrink age of the shells upon the bands will insure a tight joint sufficient for ordinary purposes.

- For withstanding, for instance, a heavy steampressure, if it is desired to still further secure the parts by interlocking them, it may be done in either of the following manners, to wit: First, where the shell A is still further offset at a so as to pass over the large part of the shell A, and after the parts are in position, the extreme edge of the shell A is spun or compressed over the external shoulder at a of the shell A, or, as shown in Fig. 3, the shell A may have an annular flange, a spun outward, while the part A has a similar but broader flange, a, (see dotted lines in Fig. 3,) that is spun over the flange a as shown. Either of these two forms of interlocking the parts will be found effective.

\Vhat I claim is 1. A float consisting, essentially, of a shell made in two parts and joined together by means of an internal band arranged to overlap the joint, the two parts of the shell being preferably forced and shrunk upon the band, substantially as set forth. 7

2. In a float, the combination, with a shell made in two parts, of an internal band arranged to span the external joint, said band having one or more inside ribs or flanges, substantially as set forth.

8. In a float, the combination, with a shell made in two parts, of an internal band for uniting the twoparts of the shell, said shell having oiisets or shoulders for engaging the In testimony whereof I sign this specific-a edges of the internal band, substantially as set tion, in the presence of two witnesses, this 29th forth. day of January, 1886.

4. In a float, the combination, with a shell 5 made in two parts that are joined by an'in- ALLEN J. \VRIGHT.

ternal band, of a lock-joint formed by spinning or compressing the edge of one part of Vitnesses: the shell over a shoulder, flange, or projection CHAS. H. DORER,

of the other part of the shell, substantially as GEO. WV. KING. Io set forth. 

